The Gospel According to Joseph, part 3! Genesis 42-45! For the last couple of weeks, we have been examining the life of Joseph, whose story stretches from Genesis 37-50. Some 25% of the book of Genesis is devoted to telling the story of Joseph. His life is a beautiful Old Testament picture of the life of Jesus Christ.! We have looked at Joseph s life as it is presented to us in three stages. The first stage stretches from his birth to age 17, and we saw how Joseph was a beloved son. He was loved by his father Jacob and scorned by the rest of his older brothers, vividly demonstrated in the way that they betrayed him and sold him into slavery. The second stage of Joseph s life stretches from age 17 to age 30, where he is presented in the biblical text as a rejected servant. Though he is blameless, he is falsely accused. Though falsely accused, he is not guilty. Though not guilty, he is condemned. And though he is condemned, he is shockingly exalted by Pharaoh and put in charge of Egypt.! The third stage of Joseph s life stretches from age 30 when he is promoted by Pharaoh and takes us all the way to the end of his life at age 110. Here, he is presented as exalted savior.! Genesis 41:57 - Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.! The whole world comes to Joseph to find food and sustenance in a time of severe famine, including his brothers.! The story picks back up in chapter 42. When we read the account of Jacob s sons appearing before Joseph and bowing at his feet, we can t help but feel a sense of poetic justice. They don t recognize him, but he recognizes them for sure. As a powerful ruler, their lives are literally in his hands. Joseph has the opportunity to make them pay for what they had done to him. Yet rather than bringing down swift judgment on their
heads, this exalted savior will shower them with unmerited, undeserved, and unrestrained grace.! I want to use four words to point out what is going on in the text.! 1. CIRCUMSTANCES (42:1-5)! 1 When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, Why do you look at one another? 2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die. 3 So ten of Joseph s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him. 5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. " The scene shifts from Egypt to back to Canaan.! Now, the first few verses here in chapter 42 tell us about the circumstances that will bring Jacob s sons all the way down to Egypt. The circumstances involve:! Famine! God had shown the ruler of Egypt what He planned to do for the next fourteen years, and Pharaoh had promoted Joseph to a position to oversee the distribution and supply of grain that was stored up in the seven years of plenty. This way, there would be grain during the seven years of famine. The Lord was using Joseph, and Pharaoh had accepted his suggestions.! First, Joseph had suggested Pharaoh appoint an intelligent and wise man to oversee the land and its harvests. Who else was wiser than Joseph? This was the providential hand of God at work. Second, Joseph had said that Pharaoh must give this man several other overseers who would be over different parts of the land and take one-fifth of each harvest for Pharaoh for the next seven years. Third, all this food must be put in storage to use when the years of famine arrived.!
All of this sounded good to Pharaoh, and so he put Joseph in charge of the whole operation. Joseph, now elevated into the position of an exalted savior, went straight to work.! After the seven years of plenty, the seven years of famine rolled in with a vengeance and came upon the whole Middle Eastern world. But due to the hand of God s providence that was with Joseph, there was an abundance of grain to be found in Egypt.! The famine was severe over all the earth, and this included the land of Canaan where Jacob and his family lived. Famines in the ancient world were among those things that were most feared. The reason had to do with hunger and deprivation.! Hunger! We know that Jacob had a large family and many servants, and as the famine continued, it became more and more difficult to feed them. Certainly the brothers knew what their father knew, that there was grain in Egypt, but they didn t talk about it. After some time, Jacob tells his sons to head down to Egypt to buy some grain before everyone starved to death. So they all make the journey to Egypt, with the exception of Benjamin.! We know what they didn t know at the time. The sovereign hand of God was at work behind the scenes! God is arranging the circumstances of their lives to ensure that they go to Egypt and bow down before Joseph.! Providence! The overarching theme of Joseph s story is divine providence.! The plan of God is beginning to come into focus. Some twenty years before the famine began, God knew three things:! the land would cease to produce! His people would starve without intervention!
Egypt would have resources sufficient to store grain! Consequently, God first sent a dream to Joseph foreshadowing what He was going to do. He then proceeded to use even the murderous hatred of Jacob s other sons to send Joseph to Egypt. Once in Egypt, God saw to it that Joseph would land in Potiphar s house, providentially kept him from adultery, and even orchestrated his imprisonment so that he was there to meet and interpret the dreams of Pharaoh s chief cupbearer and chief baker. All of this occurred so the cupbearer would remember Joseph when God sent Pharaoh a dream he could not interpret. Joseph s ability to interpret Pharaoh s dreams would lead to his own promotion, the plentiful supply of grain during a famine, and the preservation of the promised seed.! It amazing what God often uses to accomplish His plans!! 2. ACCOUNTABILITY (42:6-44:34)! 6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. Where do you come from? he said. They said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food. 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land. 10 They said to him, No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies. 12 He said to them, No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see. 13 And they said, We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more. 14 But Joseph said to them, It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is
truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies. 17 And he put them all together in custody for three days " Finally, after two decades pass that included slavery and several years of imprisonment, and most recently, several years serving in the court of Pharaoh Joseph meets his brothers.! There is no fanfare; there is no advance warning; there is no mention of a dream from God to prepare him for the encounter.! Joseph is simply hard at work one day, and there they are:! 6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. " The reversal of fortune that has happened over these twenty years is hard to miss. The promised land has a shortage of food, while Egypt has plenty to spare. The sons of Jacob come and are bowed low, while this exalted savior in Egypt stands tall before them. The men whose hearts were filled with bitterness and hatred all those years before cannot even recognize the victim of their crimes, while two decades is not enough to remove their faces from Joseph s memory.! 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. Where do you come from? he said. They said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food. 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. And he said to them, You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land. 10 They said to him, No, my lord, your servants have come to buy food. 11 We are all sons of one man. We are honest men. Your servants have never been spies. " In these chapters, Jacob s sons are exposed to a series of tests to determine their character.! Can they produce their younger brother? (42:12-15)!
12 He said to them, No, it is the nakedness of the land that you have come to see. 13 And they said, We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more. 14 But Joseph said to them, It is as I said to you. You are spies. 15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. " Will someone offer to go get him? (42:16-17)! 16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies. 17 And he put them all together in custody for three days. " Will someone offer to stay? (42:18-20)! 18 On the third day Joseph said to them, Do this and you will live, for I fear God: 19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so. " Will they come back for the one left behind? (42:21-24)! 21 Then they said to one another, In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them, Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood. 23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 Then he turned away from them and wept. And he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.! How will they respond to the money? (42:25-28)! 25 And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.
26 Then they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed. 27 And as done of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 28 He said to his brothers, My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack! At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, What is this that God has done to us? " Have they earned the trust of their father? (42:29-38)! 29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us and took us to be spies of the land. 31 But we said to him, We are honest men; we have never been spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way. 34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land. 35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man s bundle of money was in his sack. And when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has come against me. 37 Then Reuben said to his father, Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you. 38 But he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol. " How this relates to us by way of application:! Do the sins of your past continue to characterize your present?! Have you learned to love others as you love yourself?! How will you respond when facing a moral dilemma?!
Have those who are closest to you witnessed a change in you?! 1 John 5:1-5 - Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?! There is a confrontation with the one that they had wronged, conviction over their sin, and a confession of guilt. We will never know the joy of forgiveness until this process is true in our lives. Our accountability to God demands that we recognize the need to own up to our sin and confess it for it to be forgiven.! 3. REVELATION (45:1-13)! Nowhere in the Old Testament will we find a passage that is full of more emotion than this passage. This is one of the most powerful and gripping accounts of grace and providence that you will find anywhere.! Shakespeare pales in comparison to what Scripture presents.! All of the emotion comes to a head as Joseph dismisses all of his servants and reveals himself to his brothers. There are three ways that Joseph reveals himself to them in the text.! He reveals his identity (45:1-3)! 1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, Make everyone go out from me. So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph! Is
my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. " Can you imagine the shock they must have felt when this man who had been so fearsome to them and held their lives in his hands suddenly says to them in their own Hebrew language, I am Joseph!! The text simply says that they could not answer him because they were dismayed at his presence. The word means to be shocked and speechless. Perhaps they were dismayed for three reasons:! They were dismayed that he was now speaking to them in Hebrew, their own native tongue! Beforehand, Joseph had ben speaking to them through an interpreter. Now, he is speaking their language just like he is one of them.! They were dismayed by the fact that they couldn t believe that they hadn t recognized him! He was no longer the young Hebrew boy he was all those years before. Their last glimpse of him would have been when he was only a teenager. And for the record, the transformation of a man s body between the ages of 17 and 40 can be an amazing thing, to say the least! Yet when they all looked into his eyes, they no doubt saw the shadow of a familiar face.! They were dismayed by the circumstances they now found themselves in! Their lives were hanging in the balance. This man who they stood before could order their death on the spot, and now they learn that he has every reason to do so.! Instead of bringing down swift judgment on their heads, Joseph who has revealed his identity now reveals his grace.! He reveals his grace (45:4-8)!
4 So Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, please. And they came near. And he said, I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. " We are given a really good glimpse into Joseph s theology here in this text. While he acknowledges his brother s responsibility and accountability for what they had done to them, notice that he appeals to the sovereign plan of God.! God sent me before you to preserve life (v. 6)! God sent me before you to preserve a remnant (v. 7)! It was not you who sent me here, but God (v. 8)! Joseph has a proper view of both God and man. He doesn t excuse or gloss over the sinful actions of his brothers, nor does he dismiss the sovereign plan and purposes of God.! This kind of understanding in life will keep us from a lot of errors such as putting too much stock in people and not enough stock in God. Echoing this same truth, Pastor Voddie Baucham says that we need both a correct theology as well as a correct anthropology. Theology is an accurate understanding of God, and anthropology is an accurate understanding of people.! Proper theology will keep us from accusing God of evil as He works His plan of redemption in and through our lives. When we find ourselves in prison, or in Potiphar s house, we will be better able to avoid thinking that God s primary job is preventing inconvenience in our lives. Instead, we will acknowledge His sovereignty, providence, and commitment to what is best for His people.!
Proper anthropology will keep us from thinking more of man than we ought. We will not attribute power or authority to men that actually belongs to God. We will also be reminded that man is sinful, fallen, and frail. People will fail us, hurt us, disappoint us, and sometimes bless us. However, none of this will happen outside of God s providential plan. Nor will the wicked go unpunished.! Romans 12:19 - Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.! He reveals his provision (45:9-13)! 9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty. " Joseph is now able to see the providential hand of God through his life up until this point. He understands that it was God who brought him to Egypt so that he could be in the place to provide food for his brothers and thereby perpetuate the family.! Joseph merely played a key role in the story of redemption.! 4. RECONCILIATION (45:14-28; 50:15-26)! How many of you know that a reunion with Joseph was not enough? What they needed was reconciliation to Joseph. There is an amazing picture of forgiveness demonstrated in Joseph s life. He had suffered at their hands, but he refuses to take up the sword in retaliation.! 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. 16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh s house, Joseph s brothers have come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph,
Say to your brothers, Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land. 19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. 21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, Do not quarrel on the way. 25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die. " Can you imagine the joy and even disbelief on Jacob s part when he heard the words that Joseph was still alive? He had already had the funeral for his beloved son many years before, and now he learns that Joseph is lord over all of Egypt. So he makes the journey there, knowing he will not return. God appears to him on the way and gives him the reassurance that He will make him into a great nation there, and that it is all part of His divine plan.! After some years, one final appeal is made by the brothers to Joseph after their father Jacob dies.! He has extended forgiveness to his family (50:15-21)!
50:15 When Joseph s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him. 16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, Your father gave this command before he died: 17 Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you. And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, Behold, we are your servants. 19 But Joseph said to them, Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but igod meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. " Charles Spurgeon - To be forgiven is such sweetness that honey is tasteless in comparison with it. But yet there is one thing sweeter still and that it to forgive.! Though Joseph s story is not ultimately about forgiveness, there are some wonderful things we can learn from him:! Forgiveness does not ignore an offense, but it does erase a debt! Forgiveness isn t natural, but it is supernatural! Forgiveness is difficult, but living with unforgiveness is even more difficult! He has enduring hope for the future (50:22-26)! The book of Genesis ends with the death of Joseph. He comes to the end of his days, having fulfilled the plan of God in life, even though it had not been without pain. Yet God s grace was present with him every step of the way.! 22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father s house. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph s own. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 25 Then Joseph made the
sons of Israel swear, saying, God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here. 26 So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. " The wealth of Egypt was never Joseph s ultimate hope.! Even though he had lived there for most of his life, Joseph knew that Egypt was not home. The writer of Hebrews says that it was by faith that Joseph gave instructions concerning his bones. His hope was in the promise of God!! Life is 10% problems and 90% how we react to them.! Things to remember from Joseph s life:! A life of faith is not exempt from suffering! God uses circumstances to bring us to our Savior s feet! God s grace enables us to forgive those who wound us! The story of redemption shows us that relationships matter! On the cross, Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them. Through His death and resurrection, He reconciles sinners to God. He is an exalted Savior revealed in glory and full of grace.